Cognitive Dissonance Research Articles

Symbolic Collapse and Psychological Descent in King Lear: A Psychoanalytic Exploration of Transformation and Abjection

This research paper delves into King Lear through psychoanalytic lenses, examining themes of transformation, abjection, and the tension between symbolic and semiotic forces. Central to the analysis is Lear's quest for unconditional love, revealing his internal conflicts and repressed fears. The dynamic between Lear’s desire for flattery from Goneril and Regan, and Cordelia’s restrained yet genuine affection, illustrates his struggle with authority and vulnerability. Key psychoanalytic theories, including Pauncz's "Lear Complex," Freud's Elektra Complex, and Kristeva's theory of the abject, are applied to analyze Lear's psychological descent. The storm symbolizes the collapse of Lear's symbolic identity, while Cordelia’s return offers temporary solace but also underscores the cost of Lear’s flawed pursuit of love. This study illuminates how Shakespeare masterfully explores the complexities of human psychology, deepening our understanding of his characters' internal struggles.

Political Unfriending on Social Media: A Survey Study

Political unfriending on social media in Pakistan refers to the increasing usage of social media platforms for political discourse and activism in the country. This research purpose is to explore the extent to which individuals are influenced by political differences and how this influence ultimately provokes them to unfriend other users from their social networks, this was observed under the umbrella of cognitive dissonance theory. In order to study this, a Survey was adopted as the research methodology to observe the viewpoints of individuals with respect to their political preferences on social media by employing a quantitative research design with the help of university students, a sample of 300 respondents was selected who responded over a questionnaire based upon closed-ended questions along with systematic sampling technique which is used for analyzing and interpreting data which helped us to draw a valid conclusion.

Cognitive dissonance and introversion effects on opinion dynamics and echo chamber formation

Bounded confidence models (BCM) are extensively used to model continuous opinion dynamics in social networks. Typically, these models are analysed on static networks where edges do not vary over time. Following in the footsteps of adaptive voter models, further research has considered BCMs in the setting where agents are able to dynamically adjust their edges, which subsequently feedback into the opinion dynamics of the network. Several methods of updating connections have been proposed ranging from random rewiring to more sophisticated approaches based on concordant edges, homophily and cognitive dissonance. We present a modified form of the bounded confidence model, termed the selfish agent opinion (SAO) model, where connection updates are evaluated using a general cost function. Agents in the SAO model maintain two classes of relationships, friends and acquaintances, based on which they update their opinions and edges to optimise a payoff function that may include multiple social factors. This paper explores the effects, which we describe as “cognitive dissonance” and “introversion” that attempt to mimic postulated behaviours associated with the social concepts of the same name, on social network and opinion dynamics. We find that the SAO model naturally produces echo chambers for social networks with increased sensitivity to cognitive dissonance, whilst introversion produces high levels of fragmentation and low opinion mobility. Additionally, the effect of tolerant agents and inquisitive social encounters is investigated. It is found that both the presence of very small numbers of tolerant agents and inquisitive encounters are able to strongly promote consensus formation.

Daring to Be a Mother: A Case Study on Being Black, Being Pregnant, and Being a STEM Doctoral Student

This singular holistic case study examined the experience of a Black pregnant mother pursuing doctoral studies in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) field at a predominantly white flagship institution in the southern United States. We employed the tenets of critical race feminism in this study to demonstrate the ways in which structural racism and pervasive gender stereotypes, specifically as they relate to Black women, present obstacles to successful completion of doctoral STEM studies. We narrate her story to highlight the insight inherent within her intersecting identities that challenges dominant narratives about a Black pregnant doctoral student. In bringing to the fore four themes surfaced: the triple consciousness of layered Blackness, the pregnant Black tax, Chemical imbalance: mapping a white man’s reality onto a Black mother’s body, and internal struggles and the complex intra-actions that birthed them – we present a counternarrative to the dominant white-male centred STEM discourse that permeates the field. We conclude by extrapolating, from this case, considerations for faculty and institutions to understand better and act to comprehensively support Black students, in general, and Black mothers.

Untangling the dairy paradox: How vegetarians experience and navigate the cognitive dissonance aroused by their dairy consumption

Most people eat meat, yet report valuing the environment, animal life, and their health, which contradicts this dietary behaviour. The psychological discomfort aroused by this value-behaviour inconsistency, and the strategies meat eaters use to resolve this unpleasant state, is termed the ‘meat paradox’. Vegetarians eschew meat consumption, but the negative implications of dairy are comparable to meat. We investigated the ‘dairy paradox’ in a sample of vegetarians (N = 378) using an experimental design. Specifically, we tested whether vegetarians experienced cognitive dissonance after reading about the environmental, animal welfare, and health impacts of dairy consumption when compared to a control group not exposed to this information. Then, we examined to what extent perceiving dairy consumption as Natural, Necessary, Normal, Nice, or Neglectable, and denial of cows' mental states (Experience or Agency) predicted reduced cognitive dissonance. Vegetarians in the dissonance-induction condition reported experiencing significantly greater dissonance, though they more strongly rejected the justification strategies. Instead, they reported greater intentions to reduce their dairy consumption than vegetarians in the control condition. Rather than replicating findings from the meat paradox literature, these results suggest that vegetarians respond to uncomfortable feelings about their value-behaviour conflict with a greater intention to abandon the incongruent behaviour, rather than endorsing the cognitions that justify it. This research provides evidence that vegetarians experience a dairy paradox. Given the success of our study in shifting participants away from behavioural justification and toward behavioural change intentions, our findings can help guide the design of interventions seeking to reduce dairy consumption.

Laying Foundations for Islamic Teacher Education

Increasingly, educators committed to the vision of Islamic schooling are expressing sentiments of moral dissonance. On the one hand, they choose Islamic schools because they aspire to affect hearts, nurture whole human beings, and grow spiritually while impacting their learners’ sense of higher purpose. On the other hand, they are up against an era of globalised educational reform, characterised by neoliberal-engendered market forces and neoliberal policy logic that promote performativity and efficiency. This narrows what counts as learning, technicises the art of teaching, and assumes all learning that counts is visible and measurable. The teacher education and ongoing professional learning that educators working in Islamic schools have access to remains bifurcated. It is unable to address how an educator committed to tarbiya as “soul-making” ought to navigate aspirations with realities. This paper serves as the introduction to a special issue (SI) dedicated to conceptualising why Islamically grounded teacher education is needed and what it may entail. This SI will also offer empirical studies related to existing Islamic teacher education and professional learning programmes that capture essential reflections for a burgeoning subfield of Islamic Education Studies. In this introduction specifically, the co-editors and a co-author colleague make three big moves to lay the foundations for Islamic teacher education, including (1) establishing urgency for why Islamic teacher education is needed, (2) conceptualising what makes teacher education “Islamic”, and (3) providing an example of one Islamic teacher education programme’s attempt to advance a coherent professional learning journey for Islamic school educators. Together, these three moves serve as an attempt to redress bifurcation and advance a contextually relevant in-road to teacher education that is rooted in an Islamic paradigm and worldview while conversant with contemporary debates in education.

Exploring Implicit and Explicit Affective Responses to Graphic Health Warnings on Cigarette Packages in Colombia

Graphic health warnings (GHWs) are regarded a highly cost-effective public policy to communicate the health risks involved in smoking, mainly when they trigger negative emotional reactions. GHWs promote intentions to quit among smokers and prevent smoking initiation among non-smokers. In three experiments, we study how smokers and nonsmokers differ in implicit and explicit measures of emotional reactions towards GHWs. Experiment 1 used the Self-Assessment Manikin to measure explicit emotional (arousal and valence) ratings for six warnings published in tobacco products. Experiment 2 was similar to Experiment 1 but smokers and nonsmokers rated a new set of 36 GHWs not yet published. Experiment 3 used an implicit task, the Affect Misattribution Procedure, to evaluate and compare the affective responses to GHWs provided by smokers and non-smokers. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that smokers explicitly reported weaker negative emotional reactions to both familiar and unfamiliar GHWs compared to nonsmokers. Experiment 3 showed similar levels of negative implicit emotional responses among smokers and nonsmokers. Our data suggest that the decreased affective response involves high-order cognitive elaboration and evaluations of the messages conveyed by GHW, while early negative emotions triggered by the graphic component of the warnings similarly affect smokers and non-smokers. We propose that implicit measures may serve as additional and inexpensive tools for dissociating explicit biased affective responses of smokers towards GHWs from automatic emotional responses. In particular, the affect misattribution procedure may help to design warnings that communicate the risks of smoking but prevent adverse outcomes such as cognitive dissonance.

Участие Молдавии в СНГ: влияние внутренних факторов, эволюция и проблемные аспекты

The article examines the dynamics of Moldova’s participation in the CIS in the context of the internal political struggle in the republic. The author analyzes the process of a country joining the organization and highlights problematic aspects of this process. The influence of international actors on the formation of the foreign policy course of Chisinau between Russia and the EU is considered.

Adolescent core literacy cultivation and institutional framework development

The core literacy of adolescents is the starting point and the ultimate goal of education, serving as a touchstone for assessing the quality of talent and the level of education, and also as a guiding compass for the development, reform, and construction of education. Countries around the world attach great importance to the core literacy of adolescents, showing characteristics of macro cognitive consistency, diversified element selection, and specific operational aspects. To achieve the goals of core literacy for our country's adolescents, it is necessary to influence the attitudes, concepts, behavioral habits, and interactive relationships of participants and stakeholders in the educational process, including the government, schools, enterprises, families, and students. It is also necessary to improve the literacy monitoring mechanism, reform the educational examination system, transform the educational evaluation methods, improve the employer's employment orientation, optimize the social education environment, innovate the educational supply mode, and strive to build a modern educational system to create a good atmosphere for enhancing the core literacy of adolescents.

Vaccine/Vaccination Hesitancy: Challenging Science and Society

Abstract How disasters (e.g., disease, war, and natural disasters) affect people is reflected in their behavior; in the face of a disaster, people are likely to act out of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and panic in terms of self-preservation. Following more than 2 years of living amidst a global pandemic, issues of human behavior, and especially individual and societal resilience in response to disasters, are increasingly gaining focus. The theories of planned behavior and cognitive dissonance can help explain behavioral changes and underlying intrinsic conflicts. Especially in relation to global health, such phenomena as discrimination and exclusion are identified as having a negative impact on efforts to contain infectious diseases. In this context, the question arises of how to encourage members of a global society to behave cohesively in terms of quarantine, social distancing, and vaccination. This article demonstrates the existence of disbelief and misrepresentations in the context of vaccine fatigue and skepticism. While vaccinations have helped improve public health, skepticism, and resistance toward their efficacy are increasing. Looking specifically at the relatively new vaccines inoculating against the coronavirus, this article explores factors contributing to vaccine skepticism, especially with regard to Western Europe and the United States.

Building a pathway to stability: strategies for overcoming the Architect's registration crisis in Nigeria

The Architect's registration crisis in Nigeria for eight straight years (2015–2023) has significantly impacted the architectural profession, creating a pressing need for effective solutions to restore stability and ensure a sustainable future. This research investigated the challenges and consequences the crisis has caused the architectural profession in Nigeria and potential strategies for resolving the situation. The study relied on thirty-four (34) structured interviews with Provisionally Stage II registered architects and fully registered architects from different parts of Nigeria and a literature review involving a thorough analysis to identify key issues and challenges related to the Architect's registration crisis in Nigeria. Findings reveal the major factors contributing to the registration crisis include institutional issues, legislative and policy issues, power-mongering, and personality battles within professional associations and the regulatory body. Some of the proposed solutions involve strengthening accreditation standards and monitoring, addressing issues about the HND degree holders, advocating for fair registration practices, fostering collaboration and professionalism, overcoming internal issues and power struggles within professional associations and regulatory bodies, and the study proposed a framework for the registration of architects in different cadres. Ultimately, this research provided valuable insights for policymakers, professional bodies, and stakeholders. By identifying viable pathways to resolution, this study paves the way for a sustainable future for the architectural profession in Nigeria, ensuring its continued growth in the built environment.

Obtaining Academic Employment Within the U.S. Context: The Experiences of Strugglers

In the present study, we explored the experiences of Ph.D. graduates in navigating the U.S. academic job market. Using interpretative phenomenology and interview data from 15 Ph.D. graduates, we found that while pursuing academic positions, the Ph.D. graduates faced concerns about the best-fit qualities, negotiated their failures with a flexible mindset, and introspected to restore their academic identity. These internal struggles suggest the challenges of validating doctoral employability in a highly competitive academic job market. This paper discusses the findings and offers recommendations for further research and for doctoral students/graduates and academic institutions.

Beyond selfishness: the interaction of income and human values in shaping Europeans’ ideology

ABSTRACT The left-right scale of political orientation plays a pivotal role in shaping individual behaviour and government policies, particularly in Western countries. Although rational choice theory suggests that individuals with lower (higher) incomes lean towards left-wing (right-wing) redistributive policies, empirical evidence has challenged this classical view. Building on social and evolutionary psychology, cognitive dissonance theory, and experimental evidence, I argue that resolving this question requires disentangling the role of different human motivations in individuals with different personal and contextual attributes, specifically economic status. Using the European Social Survey and Schwartz’s scale of human values to estimate models of individuals’ political orientation, this paper estimates the joint and interacting ideological effects of household income and human values after controlling for possible income endogeneity. The results confirm that the classical view of ideology is useful but too simplistic. The ideological bias of human values is persistent, though economic circumstances act as a moderating variable in this relationship: Human values play a weaker role in shaping political orientation for citizens of lower economic status. The article illustrates the power of interactions to define complex profiles of citizens and proposes a research agenda.

Fear, Guilt, and Survival: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of Danny’s Dilemma in Aravind Adiga’s Amnesty

Aravind Adiga’s Amnesty is a gripping socio-psychological investigation of the immigrant experience told via the story of Danny, an undocumented Sri Lankan residing in Sydney, Australia. The present research paper deals with the aspect of how the novel delves into the psychological difficulties of persons who live in legal and social limbo, always negotiating dread, guilt, and moral uncertainty, and it will also study how Danny’s identity and actions are shaped by dread of deportation, the burden of ethical quandaries, and the desire for survival, all of which are intertwined with his complicated psychological quandary. The paper also highlights how his fear is exacerbated by his awareness that his silence could have negative effects, demonstrating how cognitive dissonance and moral obligation interact to cause psychological strain in people facing such problems. The novel emphasizes the universal human need for security and belonging, as well as how these needs shape, and are affected by the hostile circumstances in which they exist. This paper will also analyze how the novel depicts the human cost of living in the shadows, emphasizing the severe emotional and psychological toll of continually balancing survival and morality.

Social Media Use: A Cognitive Dissonance Analysis of Heavy Users and Engagement Dynamics

Abstract Purpose – This research investigates the correlation between the utilization of social networking sites, user engagement, and cognitive dissonance. It explores the mediating influence of e-compulsive buying behavior (ECBB) in the connection between SNS use, user engagement, and cognitive dissonance, while also examining the moderating impact of self-esteem on SNS use, user engagement, and ECBB. Methodology – Utilizing purposive sampling, this study collected cross-sectional data from 232 female participants actively engaged in social networking sites (SNSs) and who had made 4-5 online purchases during the last six months. Data were gathered through an electronically administered questionnaire. Descriptive data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 21, while SmartPLS version 4.0 was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings – The findings indicate a significant association between the utilization of social networking sites (SNSs) and user engagement with cognitive dissonance and ECBB. Additionally, it was observed that self-esteem played a moderating role in the relationship between SNS use, user engagement, ECBB, and cognitive dissonance, revealing a heightened impact of cognitive dissonance at lower levels of self-esteem. Practical Implications – These results carry implications for implementing interventions aimed at mitigating the adverse consequences associated with social networking site (SNSs) use, thereby fostering favorable mental health outcomes within the community. Moreover, this study offers valuable insights for managers seeking to enhance their social media strategies by analyzing the varied impacts of social media content and understanding the dynamics between posts to engage both active and passive users effectively. Originality/Value – This study contributes to the limited body of empirical research by examining the correlation between social networking site (SNSs) use, user engagement, and cognitive dissonance through the lens of ECBB. Additionally, in response to recent calls from various empirical studies in this field, the inclusion of self-esteem as a moderating variable predicting cognitive dissonance enhances the novelty of this research.

Economic growth versus the environment: government spending, trust, and citizen support for environmental protection

ABSTRACT Support for sustainability activities among citizens will also increase the probability of more sustainable choices being made by governments. In this study, we investigate the relationship between prioritization of environmental protection over economic growth and government spending on environmental protection in 27 OECD countries and more than 65 000 respondents. Drawing on the perspectives of the thermostatic model, complex belief systems and cognitive dissonance theory, we hypothesize that government spending and attitudes towards environmental protection are related. We further argue that this relationship will be moderated by trust in government. To investigate our hypotheses, we employ OECD statistics on government spending in combination with survey data from WVS and EVS from the years 1995 to 2019. Our findings show that increasing government spending on environmental protection is related to attitudes in favor of economic growth at the expense of environmental concerns, a relationship which is significantly strengthened by having low trust in government.

Overcoming Rape: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Psychological and Physical Health Functioning of Male Survivors.

When examining sexual assault, men are often hidden from the literature. The current study employed a mixed-methods, convergent parallel design to examine the experiences of 22 male survivors of sexual assault (mean age = 44.19, SD = 13.28, range 18-65; 91% European American; 50% heterosexual). Survivors were administered an online survey using quantitative and qualitative questions to assess rape myths, gender roles, self-esteem, self-efficacy, resiliency, coping, overall mental and physical health, and diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sexual dysfunction. Three key themes emerged from the integration of quantitative and qualitative data: (a) Help is Elusive, (b) Internal Struggles and External Strengths, and (c) Living with Clinical Diagnoses. This study adds to an important area of the literature that increases understanding of men's experiences with sexual violence and honors the voices of these survivors.

Prayers for Sickness: What do people pray for and how do they deal with unanswered prayer?

This paper focuses upon prayer for sickness. What do individuals suffering from illness, their families and the wider community pray for? How do they deal with unanswered prayer? Do they pray for cure, to guide medical professionals or to cope with their sickness? What rationalisations do they proffer for unanswered prayer? Based on a critical literature review and deploying secondary data from the Twenty First Century Evangelical research programme, the data suggest that prayers for guiding medical professionals and coping are more common than for cure, at least in Global North countries such as the UK and US. But why do those who believe in miracles not ask God for divine healing? Furthermore, unanswered prayer can conflict with Christian views of God as omnipotent and all loving. Respondents use a number of theodical rationalisations to resolve this conflict. The results are discussed in relation to cognitive dissonance theory, learned helplessness, the need to conserve a relationship with the Divine, and desire to manage risk of disappointment and reduce consequent emotional pain.

Effects of Consumer Expectation on Cognitive Dissonance, Satisfaction, and Repurchase Intention Afention : Focusing on the Case of Shrinkflation When Purchasing Snack

Effects of Consumer Expectation on Cognitive Dissonance, Satisfaction, and Repurchase Intention Afention : Focusing on the Case of Shrinkflation When Purchasing Snack

Fair Enough? Mini-Public Composition and Outcome Acceptance from the Maxi Public

One hope associated with the spread of deliberative mini-publics in established democracies is that they could increase acceptance of policies because of their inclusive and diverse composition. Yet, participants are not representative of the broader public in all characteristics. They tend to be more engaged with politics or debated policy issues than the average population. Building on a Climate Citizens’ Assembly commissioned by the Luxembourg government in 2022 (Klima Biergerrot-KBR), this study examines how the maxi public reacts when informed about the profile of mini-public participants. Via a survey experiment, we found that descriptive representation and similarity matter to accept the outcomes, but not universally. It depends on respondents’ attitudes about mini-publics prior to the experiment and situations of cognitive dissonance. Indeed, when people initially neutral or opposed to mini-publics (‘participatory skeptics’) learn that the process is fairly representing (their in-) groups, they increase their willingness to accept the outcomes, stressing improvement in the perceived legitimacy. By contrast, the lack of social inclusion and political diversity is an issue to keep the ‘participatory enthusiasts’ on board, stressing that they also pay attention (and perhaps even more) to how and which groups of citizens are represented within a mini-public. Our message is that deliberative mini-publics need to address more thoroughly how they can best meet their normative assumptions of participatory equality and procedural fairness; otherwise, they may not help to foster political legitimacy.